Has this happened to any one building a model from Revell

[davyou5]

Hello all,

I am new here. Recently but more like a week ago, I purchased a model car from ebay and had it sent to my home. it was a Miami Vice Ferrari Testarossa, this kit was made in 1988, and under the brand name Revell.

Well I painted everything and essembled it correctly by the instructions, but when I tried to put the Body and the Frame together, it would not fit properly and I mean that it was out of place when I put them together, I tried everything I could think of, I thought that prehaps something was in the way or that something may have been out of place. None of that was a problem, finally I just got too frustrated and threw it away.

I know that Revell and Monogram are two merged companies, So I am seriously thinking of buying the kit for the same car that Monogram made, But I think it is a different scale. So the questions I pose here is, Has this happened to anyone building a Revell model, and which Brand is better Monogram or Revell.

David.

[Guest]

Hi david, and welcome to the forum. Sometimes kit parts are warped, that may be the issue you are experiencing. One should always test fit parts before painting, and before final assembly to determine if that condition exhists. It can be remedied, but is easier to do before painting and assembly. I am not sure if Monogram's kit is the same as revell's, it may be, or it may also be possible both companies had a kit of that car before they merged. Neither brand is really "better" in my opinion. I hope I have helped a little, and maybe someone here can answer your questions better. Dont give up!

[Jon Cole]

Welcome to the board. Unfortunately, you have already shot the horse (threw the kit away), so seeking advice on how to fix it is moot. I don't have the kit in question, but I am sure others here can help you. Did you build it according to instructions? Occasionally, the instructions are not 100% accurate. Test fitting sub assemblies is suggested. Building models can be a test of patience. If you can go find the kit parts, maybe you will find out what is in the way. Can you post a photo of the parts, if you find them?

[Exotics_Builder]

If I recollect correctly, the R-M Miami Vice TR was just a repackage of their kit, available in coupe and spyder versions. I built the spyder version some years ago and have a coupe version downstairs in the “hobby shopâ€. The kits are quite nice and are actually US Spec, a rarity for exotics. They include the correct side marker lamps and exhaust catalytic converters.

I don’t recollect any building problems with the spyder other than car in fitting the chassis with the body. I can only assume the kit you bought had some type of warpage as previously noted,.

[Railfreak78]

I always test fit all my models. It might be that kit or all of those kits are warped. There are a few different ways to fix them before you ever get paint on them. Some Monogram and Revell kits are the same prior to the merger and some are different. All I can suggest is ask before throwing a kit away! Even if you hate it you can also save a bad kit for parts in the future. Good luck.

[davyou5]

Hello all,

Thank you for welcoming me here. And to answer some questions, I never realized that I should prefit the kit to check for their accuracy, I am going to keep that in mind next time. I did piece together the Kit as instructed yes. No I don't have any pictures sorry, I did get frustrated with the fact that the Chasis was way off, perhaps it was just dissapointment but with the advice here I am going to buy the Monogram version of the kit and take all the precautions advised for me here. I haven't modeled in a long time so I do not consider what I have done with the kit a waste of time, just something to learn by. RailFreak also advised that I save the parts next time I enocunter a warped kit, Yes I think that is a good idea too.

Okay I am convinced, I will purchase the Monogram version of the Testarossa, Prefit, make sure nothing is warped and if it is I will get a replacement from the number to call as suggested to me. I guess these things do take allot of patients:). Thank you all:).

And The Ferrari Spyder.... I may just go ahead and get that kit too.

[Guest Johnny]

Don't feel bad! My son was 18 at the time and had issues like that with a Dodge Viper! He had near perfect paint and decal work on the body and had detailed out the rest of the kit really nice! But he was having fits fitting the chassis to the body! Just wold not go together right!

I asked if he needed help and he said no and tosed it to the garbage!

A week later the 12 year old that live in the house on the alley behind us came over to show us the model he finished that he had found in the garbage! He hadn't done anything other than reglue a couple parts that were not quite into proper position and it went right together!

My kid didn't even want to see it!!! He was so embarrased because of giving up and throwing it away!

When you have a problem like that, put it away for a while and let yourself calm down. Work on something else maybe even finish a model or two. Then go back and approach it from a standpoint of assessing why it does not fit, find the problem and fix what is needed! It works! trust me I know from experience!

[davyou5]

Hello all,

Hey Johnny, thanks for the awesome story and very good example, What you have explained here is exactly what happen to the model I was working on, The Body would not fit on the Chasis properly, Yes I did check to see that I did not have anything out of place or if something else was holding it up from fitting properly. But I could not find the solution. However you are right, I should have stepped back from it, then come back to it later on to see if there was anything that I could do. Well I just consider what I have done a lesson to be learned, I am sure your son did too:).

As of today I ordered the Monogram version of the Kit(And I think that this is the original kit), I expect it to be here sometime next week, This time around I am going to be more Patient if something comes up:), Since I am now a member here I will ask questions here if I am having trouble. Thanks Johnny:).

Don't feel bad! My son was 18 at the time and had issues like that with a Dodge Viper! He had near perfect paint and decal work on the body and had detailed out the rest of the kit really nice! But he was having fits fitting the chassis to the body! Just wold not go together right!

I asked if he needed help and he said no and tosed it to the garbage!

A week later the 12 year old that live in the house on the alley behind us came over to show us the model he finished that he had found in the garbage! He hadn't done anything other than reglue a couple parts that were not quite into proper position and it went right together!

My kid didn't even want to see it!!! He was so embarrased because of giving up and throwing it away!

When you have a problem like that, put it away for a while and let yourself calm down. Work on something else maybe even finish a model or two. Then go back and approach it from a standpoint of assessing why it does not fit, find the problem and fix what is needed! It works! trust me I know from experience!

[Railfreak78]

I feel your pain. I just got a Revell Datsun 510 today and the passenger side fender and front end are a mess. It was a sealed kit. I have a lot of work to do to fix it.

[Guest Johnny]

I feel your pain. I just got a Revell Datsun 510 today and the passenger side fender and front end are a mess. It was a sealed kit. I have a lot of work to do to fix it.

Those are cool little cars! I like almost all the builds I have seen of them!

There is a1:1 in a garage down the street from my father-in-law! The guy has it all apart and has the roll cage in place and all the pieces to put it back together including an engine he ordered from somewhere that is still in a shipping crate! He got laid off two years ago and hasn't been able to find a good enough job to continue building the car!

I would love to have it but I'm about in the same boat as him!

[davyou5]

I feel your pain. I just got a Revell Datsun 510 today and the passenger side fender and front end are a mess. It was a sealed kit. I have a lot of work to do to fix it.

You said the word "Fix", actually I am curious on how you will fix it?

[jbwelda]

like others have mentioned, building a model can be a real test of your patience. in my case, final assembly (where you ran into your problems) seems to often be the problem. even with test fitting. its too bad you chucked your partial build because i bet if you sat down with it in mind you would have to tear it apart to put it back together, you would figure out what was causing the final assembly problems and be able to fix it. often it is interior to body mismatch...sometimes even 1/8 inch off will make it seem like it will never fit together. i often reach for the cordless dremel tool in those cases

the point is, next time you get frustrated just set it aside and if and when you get back to it you might be able to sort it out.

[davyou5]

like others have mentioned, building a model can be a real test of your patience. in my case, final assembly (where you ran into your problems) seems to often be the problem. even with test fitting. its too bad you chucked your partial build because i bet if you sat down with it in mind you would have to tear it apart to put it back together, you would figure out what was causing the final assembly problems and be able to fix it. often it is interior to body mismatch...sometimes even 1/8 inch off will make it seem like it will never fit together. i often reach for the cordless dremel tool in those cases

the point is, next time you get frustrated just set it aside and if and when you get back to it you might be able to sort it out.

I wish I had a Dremel tool, I had access to one at one time when I held a Machinist job, but I was layed off that one, and a Coworker of mine would often use the paint booth and the Dremel tool for his models on his breaks. What you said here actually made sense to me, It may very well have been a problem with the interior now that I am thinking about it, because I only noticed that everything on the chasis was correctly in place and not holding the body, really I could not figure it out, the interior may have been the problem.

Well I went out and bought what I believe is the Original Monogram kit, according to the seller, allot of stuff he is selling comes from the attic where it was stored for years, this is why I am assuming that it is an original kit. the Plastic on it is torn and the box has a few dings but virtually it is unopened. Here's a few pictures on what I am going to receive. So I will be test fitting all subessemblies as advised by the others here, and yes if I have troubles I will step away from it, and then come back to it when I am ready to objective view the possible problem, also I will be here to ask questions too. I take this as a lesson to be learned. Thank You all:).

Well Honestly people, I got this kit on my Birthday 09-09-10, Last year I did a Mad Max Interceptor and while not perfect, I did do very well on it. I was hoping to do the same with the Testarossa This Year, now when I was struggling with it Yes I did get very frustrated, and threw it out. But that will not happen again:).

[davyou5]

Hello all,

One other thing, In case anyone was interested,I managed to get a few photo's of the Interceptor I did last year. I will apologize that my digital camera is cheap and doesn't take very good photo's under my current room lighting set. I just totally wish you could see what I have done with the Interior, I even watched the first Mad Max movie in order to get the Radio Receiver lights colors to match, thought the siren light did not mix well with the paint so It ended up with a super light red color, A misstake I will not be making again.

The Kit came with the Dinki-Di dog food decal to put around a cylinder, I thought that was a nice touch:).

[Railfreak78]

You said the word "Fix", actually I am curious on how you will fix it?

This here is a car I fixed. When I bought it the entire roof was shoved over and actually sticking out farther than the passenger side of the car. It was a long process but I put the car in warm water and let it soak a bit. Then I pulled it out and help it over toward the way it needed to go. out of the water to cool. I had to repeat the process a few times until I reached the desired look. It is still a little bit off but not to bad. Some times you have to replace the windshield pillars with styrene but sometimes you do not. I fixed a curved Lambo chassis with warm water too. Good luck! The yellow one in the picture is the one I fixed.

[davyou5]

Hey thanks for the tip, you can barely tell anything was wrong at all! I think it looks great! Thanks Again RailFreak78.

This here is a car I fixed. When I bought it the entire roof was shoved over and actually sticking out farther than the passenger side of the car. It was a long process but I put the car in warm water and let it soak a bit. Then I pulled it out and help it over toward the way it needed to go. out of the water to cool. I had to repeat the process a few times until I reached the desired look. It is still a little bit off but not to bad. Some times you have to replace the windshield pillars with styrene but sometimes you do not. I fixed a curved Lambo chassis with warm water too. Good luck! The yellow one in the picture is the one I fixed.